Cycling has an obsession with aerodynamics, which makes sense given that the biggest resistive force slowing you down while riding is wind drag. In recent years, every part of cycling equipment, from bicycles to clothing to components, have been designed to be ever more aerodynamic in an attempt to allow riders to travel a little faster on their bikes. The question is, how fast can you buy if you go from a typical budget setup to one where money is no object?
Ollie Bridgewood is on a mission to discover, with the help of an average pilot, a selection of bikes, and a test circuit that can be easily repeated. Our average rider is Phil, a typical cyclist. We’ll put Phil on three bikes, each representative of a certain price point and style. First we will use a standard entry level road bike with an aluminum frame. Next, we will test our pilot on high performance Orbea Orca road bike. Finally, we will take it on a Canyon Speedmax Time Trial Bike.
The entrance bike
The first bike to take on the 10km test cycle is an entry-level, budget-friendly Boardman. It has an aluminum frame with a carbon fiber fork and comes equipped with an 8-speed Shimano Claris transmission. Coming in at 9 kilos, it’s not a featherweight, but it’s not ridiculously heavy either.
This bike is comparable to what many of our early road bikes look like and has everything you need to enjoy endless kilometers of cycling. Ollie was able to get this bike for just £450, reduced from a retail price of £650. That’s less than 5% of the cost of either of the other two bikes on test.
The ultimate road bike
The second bike that our “average rider” will test is a top road bike: an Orbea Orca OMX. This super-lightweight machine is built with the highest spec components on the market including Shimano’s Dura-ace 12 speed electronic groupset and deep section carbon fiber wheels. It doesn’t come cheap with a £10,000 price tag.
The biggest difference between the entry bike and this will be aerodynamics, especially with those deep wheels. At just 6.7 kilos, it’s also considerably lighter than the other bike, which should help with climbs and accelerations after corners.
To go with the new bike Phil also gets an upgrade to his clothes. It has changed into an aerodynamic, premium suit that uses the latest material technology to help performance both aerodynamically and through better temperature regulation.
The TT bike without money
The latest bike for Phil to swing his leg on is the fastest bike we can get our hands on. The Canyon Speedmax is designed in every way to be as fast as possible. For the most part, it is faster because of the position that puts the rider. The geometry of the bike leans the rider forward, so they present a much smaller frontal area. Also, the aerodynamic bars put the rider’s forearms in front of them to be as low and aerodynamic as possible.
It doesn’t stop there though, with the bike dripping in cutting-edge aerodynamic technology, including a solid disc rear wheel and a deep section front wheel. Everywhere you look this bike has been modified to be as fast as it can be, using a unique drivetrain for marginal aerodynamic gains, and ceramic bearings everywhere they can fit. There is also an aero rear mech cover. No stone is left unturned on this bike. In total, the bike with all the additional modifications comes in at around £15,000 – £14,550 more than the entry-level Boardman.
To make Phil look the part, and to give him the full aero experience, he replaced his typical entry-level helmet with a TT-specific aero model.
Out on the course
The 10km course had a bit of everything with some rolling undulations, some bends and some flat straight sections to really build up some speed. The first ride on the Boardman was a bit nostalgic for Phil, reminding him of the first bike he had when he started cycling. It felt familiar, even if the tires were a little tight for his taste.
Adding to the Orbea road bike, it felt faster on the road. The racier, lower position was new to Phil, but it was easy enough to adopt for the duration of the test. Out on the road, the bike’s stiffness and efficiency were palpable and the wider, faster tires made the ride much smoother than on the Boardman’s skinny tires.
In the final race of the day, the TT bike proved a tough beast to tame. Although on paper it is an incredibly fast machine built for top speed, in reality driving it at full speed is a real skill. For Phil, this was his first time on a TT bike, and even right into the stretches it was a nerve-wracking test. In fact, he chose to ride most of the course on the base bar where he had the most control.
The results
After completing the three races, the results were in. In all the runs Phil kept a stable average power of around 200 watts giving us a consistent output to base any conclusions on.
The Boardman in a regular entry kit and clothes clocked a time of 22 minutes and 31 seconds over the 10km course. Amazingly, jumping to the Orbea and the high-end clothing led to an advantage of almost two minutes, with Phil coming in 20 minutes and 45 seconds on the top-spec road bike.
Things get interesting when we get to the TT bike. On paper, it should be even faster than the Orbea, but since Phil had trouble getting into the aero position, it actually ended up being slower than the high-end road bike. Phil completed the course on the time trial bike in 21 minutes and 40 seconds.
The conclusion
It is certainly possible to buy speed; the Orbea paired with a premium cycling kit was almost 10% faster than the Boardman. However, there is no denying that the cost of that extra speed is astronomical. The Orbea costs several times more than the Boardman and gives only a marginal increase in speed. Finally, Phil’s time on the time trial bike shows us that even if you can buy the fastest gear, you can only make the most of it if you put in the time to develop the skills to use it properly.
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